| Nordic Football Championship | |
| Founded: | 1924 |
| Abolished: | 2001 |
| Region: | Europe (UEFA) |
| Number Of Teams: | 4 (2000–01) |
| Current Champions: | (1st title) |
| Most Successful Team: | (9 titles) |
The Nordic Football Championship (Danish: Nordisk Mesterskab, Norwegian: Nordisk Mesterskap, Swedish: Nordiska Mästerskapet, Finnish: Pohjoismaiden-mestaruusturnaus, commonly abbreviated NM or PM) was an international football competition contested by the men's national football teams of the Nordic countries. In the first tournament played 1924–1928, only Denmark, Norway and Sweden competed, but Finland joined for the second tournament, and at the last tournament played in 2000–2001, Iceland and the Faroe Islands also competed.[1]
The tournament was created on Danish initiative to replace a contract, ended in 1919, between the Danish (DBU), Norwegian (NFF) and Swedish Football Association (SvFF) that stated that the national teams of the three associations should play two annual matches against each other. However, the idea was not realised until four years later, when the Danish association celebrated its 35th anniversary, and the first tournament was started. It was arranged by the DBU and was played as a single group where the three teams met each other five times for a total of ten matches each. DBU also provided the trophy of the first edition, a trophy that Denmark won when the tournament ended in 1928.
The second tournament was arranged by SvFF which celebrated its 25th anniversary, and this time the Football Association of Finland (SPF) was invited. It was also decided to play the tournaments over four years, with each team playing 12 matches, four against each other team, two at home and two away. The tournament was won by Norway, but the following nine tournaments, played between 1933 and 1977, were completely dominated by Sweden which won all of them. The fourth tournament was interrupted by the Second World War, and thus was played over eleven years, from 1937 to 1947.
The tournament gained popularity after the war and the matches were important for the Nordic national teams as preparation for larger tournaments such as the World Cup and the Olympics. But the tournament lost significance in the 1970s, partially due to the increased number of matches played against other international opponents, and thus the last three tournaments played in the 1970s and 1980s varied in length and format. The last match of the 1981-1983 tournament, between Sweden and Norway, was not even played as Denmark had already won. But the match was then played in 1985 after all.
A non-recurrent edition of the tournament was played in 2000–01, to which the Football Association of Iceland and the Faroe Islands Football Association were invited. Some of the matches were played during a joint training camp in La Manga Club, Spain, and the rest were played at home, some in indoor arenas. One match, between Norway and the Faroe Islands, was never played. The tournament was won by Finland for the first time.[2]
| width=10% | Year | width=10% | Trophy | width=1% rowspan=15 | width=19% | Winner | width=19% | Runner-up | width=19% | 3rd Place | width=19% | 4th Place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1924 - 28 Details | Jubilæumspokal | Only three participants | |||||||||||
| 1929 - 32 Details | Guldkrus | ||||||||||||
| 1933 - 36 Details | Nordiske Pokal | ||||||||||||
| 1937 - 47 Details | Suomen Karhut | (2) | |||||||||||
| 1948 - 51 Details | DBU's Vase | (3) | |||||||||||
| 1952 - 55 Details | SvFF:s pokal | (4) | |||||||||||
| 1956 - 59 Details | Eventyr og Lek | (5) | |||||||||||
| 1960 - 63 Details | SPL's Pokal | (6) | |||||||||||
| 1964 - 67 Details | Fodboldspillere | (7) | |||||||||||
| 1968 - 71 Details | SvFF:s pokal | (8) | |||||||||||
| 1972 - 77 Details | - | (9) | |||||||||||
| 1978 - 80 Details | - | (2) | |||||||||||
| 1981 - 85 Details | - | (3) | |||||||||||
| 2000 - 01 Details | - |
Source: https://www.rsssf.org/tablesn/nordic.html
| Rank | Team | Part | M | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | 147 | 89 | 26 | 32 | 382 | 198 | +184 | 293 | ||
| 2 | 14 | 147 | 75 | 23 | 49 | 323 | 218 | +105 | 248 | ||
| 3 | 14 | 145 | 52 | 31 | 62 | 265 | 300 | –35 | 187 | ||
| 4 | 13 | 137 | 21 | 24 | 92 | 150 | 401 | –251 | 66 | ||
| 5 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 10 | ||
| 6 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | –4 | 1 |
| Player | Team | Goals | Tournaments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pauli Jørgensen | 30 | (1924-28(3), 1929-32(15), 1933-36(8) and 1937-47(4)) | |
| 2 | Jørgen Juve | 20 | (1929-32(17) and 1933-36(3)) | |
| 3 | Ole Madsen | 18 | (1956-59(2), 1960-63(11) and 1964-67(5)) | |
| 4 | Sven Rydell | 17 | (1924-28(15) and 1929-32(2)) | |
| 5 | Harald Hennum | 14 | (1948-51(1), 1952-55(5), 1956-59(6), 1960-63(2)) | |
| 6 | Gunnar Nordahl | 12 | (1937-47(7) and 1948-51(5)) | |
| Rune Börjesson | (1956-59(6) and 1960-63(6)) | |||
| 8 | Erik Persson | 11 | (1933-36(5) and 1937-47(6)) | |
| Nils-Åke Sandell | (1952-55(10) and 1956-59(1)) | |||
| 10 | Agne Simonsson | 10 | (1956-59(7), 1960-63(1) and 1964-67(2)) | |
| 11 | Jens Peder Hansen | 9 | (1948-51(2), 1952-55(5), 1956-59(2)) | |
| Kaj Uldaler | (1929-32(5) and 1933-36(4)) | |||
| Gunnar Thoresen | (1937-47(1), 1948-51(3), 1952-55(4) and 1956-59(1)) | |||
| 14 | Finn Berstad | 8 | (1924-28(8)) | |
| Bertil Ericsson | (1933-36(8)) | |||
| Michael Rohde | (1924-28(7) and 1929-32(1)) | |||
| Gunnar Gren | (1937-47(2) and 1956-59(6)) | |||
| Henning Enoksen | (1956-59(3) and 1960-63(5)) | |||
| Knut Kroon | (1924-28(2), 1929-32(5), 1933-36(1)) | |||
| Harry Bild | (1956-59(3), 1960-63(3) and 1964-67(2)) | |||
| Odd Iversen | (1964-67(1), 1968-71(6), 1972-77(1)) |
Since the first official tournament in 1924–28, 41 hat-tricks have been scored in over 100 matches of the 14 editions of the tournament. The first hat-trick was scored by Sven Rydell of Sweden, playing against Norway on 21 September 1924; and the last was by Pål Jacobsen of Norway, playing against Finland on 21 August 1980. The record number of hat-tricks in a single Nordic Football Championship is ten, during the 1929-32 edition. The only player to have scored four hat-tricks is Jørgen Juve, three in 1929-32 (in which he was the top goal scorer with 17 goals) and one in 1933–36. He is closely followed by Sven Rydell who has three (all of whom came in the inaugural edition of the competition), and the next closest are Pauli Jørgensen, Erik Persson and Gunnar Nordahl with two hat-tricks each. The record for the most goals scored in a single Nordic Championship game is 5, which has been achieved on two occasion: by Gunnar Nordahl when he scored 5 for Sweden in a 5–3 win over Norway and by Erik Dyreborg when he scored his side's 5 goals in a 5–0 win over Norway. Sweden holds the record for most hat-tricks scored with 23, which is more than half of all hat-tricks. Finland holds the record for most hat-tricks conceded with 26, having conceded more than half of all the hat-tricks scored in the competition.
| scope=col | scope=col | Player | scope=col | scope=col | Time of goals | scope=col | For | scope=col | Result | scope=col | Against | scope=col | Tournament | scope=col | Date | scope=col class="unsortable" | FIFA report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| . | Sven Rydell | 3 | ', 78', 89' | 6–1 | 1924–28 Nordic Football Championship | 21 September 1924 | Report | ||||||||||||
| . | Sven Rydell (2) | 4 | ', 42', 44', 62' | 7–3 | 23 August 1925 | Report | |||||||||||||
| . | Sven Rydell (3) | 3 | ', 23', 65' | 5–3 | 26 June 1927 | Report | |||||||||||||
| . | Jørgen Juve | 3 | ', 15', 73' | 4–0 | 1929–32 Nordic Football Championship | 18 June 1929 | Report | ||||||||||||
| . | Pauli Jørgensen | 3 | ', 41', 73' | 8–0 | 13 October 1929 | Report | |||||||||||||
| . | Jørgen Juve (2) | 3 | ', 42', 66' | 6–2 | 1 June 1930 | Report | |||||||||||||
| . | Pauli Jørgensen (2) | 3 | ', 65', 88' | 6–1 | 22 June 1930 | Report | |||||||||||||
| . | Jørgen Juve (3) | 3 | ', 42', 47' | 3–6 | 6 July 1930 | Report | |||||||||||||
| . | Harry Lundahl | 3 | ', 13', 48' | 6–3 | |||||||||||||||
| . | Lauri Lehtinen | 3 | ', 40', 41' | 4–4 | 28 September 1930 | Report | |||||||||||||
| . | Bertil Karlsson | 3 | ', 53', 64' | 4–4 | |||||||||||||||
| . | Sune Zetterberg | 4 | ', 25', 30', 55' | 8–2 | 3 July 1931 | Report | |||||||||||||
| . | Evert Hansson | 3 | ', 65', 73' | 8–2 | |||||||||||||||
| . | Jørgen Juve (4) | 3 | ', 36', 46' | 5–1 | 1933–36 Nordic Football Championship | 3 September 1933 | Report | ||||||||||||
| . | Bertil Ericsson | 4 | ', 34', 61', 62' | 5–3 | 17 June 1934 | Report | |||||||||||||
| . | Erik Persson | 3 | ', 42', 87' | 4–5 | 23 September 1934 | Report | |||||||||||||
| . | Odd Hoel | 3 | ', 52', 62' | 5-1 | 8 September 1935 | Report | |||||||||||||
| . | Arne Brustad | 4 | ', 22', 25', 33' | 9–0 | 1937–47 Nordic Football Championship | 17 June 1938 | Report | ||||||||||||
| . | Erik Persson (2) | 3 | ', 64', 67' | 5–1 | 9 June 1939 | Report | |||||||||||||
| . | Oskar Theisen | 3 | ', 57', 89' | 8–1 | 17 September 1939 | Report | |||||||||||||
| . | Gunnar Nordahl | 3 | ', 57', 89' | 7–0 | 24 August 1947 | Report | |||||||||||||
| . | Gunnar Nordahl (2) | 5 | ', 44', 62', 74', 80' | 5–3 | 1948–51 Nordic Football Championship | 19 September 1948 | Report | ||||||||||||
| . | Egon Jönsson | 3 | ', 9', 17' | 8–1 | 2 October 1949 | Report | |||||||||||||
| . | Ingvar Rydell | 3 | ', 75', 83' | 8–1 | |||||||||||||||
| . | Kjell Kristiansen | 3 | ', 47', 75' | 7–2 | 1952–55 Nordic Football Championship | 31 August 1952 | Report | ||||||||||||
| . | Lars Råberg | 3 | ', 48', 58' | 8–1 | 21 September 1952 | Report | |||||||||||||
| . | Hasse Persson | 3 | ', 50', 83' | 8–1 | |||||||||||||||
| . | Birger Eklund | 3 | ', 30', 48' | 10–1 | 15 August 1954 | Report | |||||||||||||
| . | Kurt Hamrin | 3 | ', 71', 80' | 10–1 | |||||||||||||||
| . | Nils-Åke Sandell | 3 | ', 38', 60' | 5–2 | 10 October 1954 | Report | |||||||||||||
| . | Gunnar Gren | 3 | ', 50', 77' | 5–1 | 1956–59 Nordic Football Championship | 22 September 1957 | Report | ||||||||||||
| . | Torbjörn Jonsson | 3 | ', 50', 69' | 7–1 | 20 August 1958 | Report | |||||||||||||
| . | Harald Nielsen | 3 | ', 22', 53' | 4–0 | 4 October 1959 | Report | |||||||||||||
| . | Rune Börjesson | 3 | ', 48', 75' | 6–2 | 18 October 1959 | Report | |||||||||||||
| . | Jørn Sørensen | 3 | ', 52', 85' | 9–1 | 1960–63 Nordic Football Championship | 15 October 1961 | Report | ||||||||||||
| . | Ole Madsen | 3 | ', 44', 87' | 6–1 | 11 June 1962 | Report | |||||||||||||
| . | Tom Turesson | 3 | ', 63', 70' | 4–2 | 1964–67 Nordic Football Championship | 18 September 1966 | Report | ||||||||||||
| . | Erik Dyreborg | 5 | ', 41', 57', 60', 63' | 5–0 | 24 September 1967 | Report | |||||||||||||
| . | Tommy Troelsen | 3 | ', 24', 77' | 5–1 | 1968–71 Nordic Football Championship | 23 June 1968 | Report | ||||||||||||
| . | Bent Jensen | 3 | ', 14', 43' | 5–2 | 10 September 1969 | Report | |||||||||||||
| . | Pål Jacobsen | 4 | ', 39', 73', 83' | 6–1 | 1978–80 Nordic Football Championship | 21 August 1980 | Report |
Cited sources
Further reading
